North Korea (v.2: salutethered)
IM HAK SOO (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) A reclusive young man pursuing knowledge in scientific fields. He marches to the beat of his own drum and has very few friends. Background Before Liberty: *Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin west Ann Arbor born and raised, in a laboratory where he spent most of his days, calculating, experimenting, maxin' all cool, out borrowing books outside the library, when a couple of guys who were up to no good started making trouble in the neighborhood. He blew up just one and his mom got scared, said he's moving with his little brother and childhood friends to...Liberty. In Liberty: *Employeed at Liberty Bros. & Co., a nuclear physics research company. Likes to run tests on subjects and is often avoided for that very reason. He doesn't really understand why, since he compensates them thoroughly for their efforts: with cake. *He has recently moved into the Braginsky's sprawling residence, where he is generally as much of a bother as is legal. He lives in the attic and runs his tests up there, away from prying eyes. It's a bit of a wonder as to how he hasn't been apprehended by the law yet, but where there's a will, there's a way. Personality A reticent perfectionist who would much rather be honest and blunt than spare any feelings. He doesn't understand social decorum and is frustrated by people's incompetence. He's just an old codger stuck in a young man's body. While he projects an image of being ever-competent and snappy, he can be startlingly immature at times, if only to those he is comfortable around. He remains isolated but is very much misunderstood—what with his experimentation and lack of social skills. What he really wants is for just one person to open up to and be true friends with, not someone who will censure and castigate him for his actions. This is much easier said than done, as he has yet to meet anyone who fits that description. It isn't that he wishes ill-harm on others, it's that he really doesn't grasp the gravity of his actions; he does what he wants to and it isn't out of malice, just genuine interest in whatever he pursues. Relationships Family: *Im Yong Soo (South Korea): Brother, two years his junior. Hak Soo pretends that his brother is a menace to his sanity (which, okay, it may not really be pretending...) and is abrasive towards his declarations of affection for his older brother. The brothers were the best of friends once upon a time in Michigan, but what with graduation and growing up, they had a major falling-out years before and are working to try to get along with some degree of brotherly love. Friends/Acquaintances: *Chemistry Set: Don't. Diss. The. Test tubes. That is all. *Ivan Braginsky (Russia): Regardless of what you may hear, this man is not his "sugar daddy" and he has no interest in him in that sort of manner. He just funds his scientific pursuits and his necessity for food. He's currently a tenant, living in the man's attic, much to his displeasure. You will find that this sums up their relationship beautifully. *Ion Sollomovici (Moldova): This complicated relationship stems mostly from the fact that Ion. Is. Watching. Hak Soo. The Moldovan has dubbed him "Hacky Sack" and thus treats him as one. They have a grudging rivalry, only exacerbated by Hak Soo's lack of understanding of social settings. *Wang Yao (China): Before there was any animosity, Hak Soo and Yao got along very well, the latter being an older brother figure that he could look up to. As of late, they have grown more and more distant. Yao disapproves of his scientific ventures and Hak Soo disapproves of the way Yong Soo is so affectionate towards his "Aniki." This is in no way related to jealousy. At all. Enemies: *Alfred F. Jones (America): The summer of 2005, Alfred was visiting relatives in Ann Arbor, where Hak Soo was spending his last summer before heading off to Liberty. Alfred decided it would be dandy to pull a prank on him a la a can of spring snakes. To this day, Hak Soo hasn't forgotten the four-eyed American and does his best to enact revenge. The saddest part is that Alfred does not remember Hak Soo. At all. *The Jehovah's Witnesses that gather at his door daily in hopes of getting their message through to his head. He's recently had a missing persons report filed against the Braginsky house due to the mysterious disappearance of two Witnesses that he may or may not have taken to his attic. *The Food Channel: this channel tempts him late at night when he happens to find a special on cakes. The bakers on television do everything so easily, and he doesn't relish in his own incompetence in the face of their own expertise. Love Interests: *Science. *Textbooks. *What is this..."love interest" that you speak of? Alternate Universes: Genderbent In the genderbend universe, Im Eun Soo is the name. She is a girl who has a lot of expectations set of her, mostly regarding what her parents believe is feminine; they involve marriage and blind-dating. She works for an IT Systems Engineering company and was discouraged from studying nuclear physics, like she wanted. Fun Facts *Hak Soo is in the process of learning how to bake. He used to be able to stealprocure free cakes from a bakery before it strangely went bankrupt. So to compensate his far and few in between test subjects for their efforts, he must bake his own cakes. *The way he learns about social interactions and the like is through—you guessed it—korean dramas. *That being said, he is very very bad at dealing with physical proximity. The ideal way to fluster him is to break the threshold of his personal bubble. Category:Asia Category:Character Category:Canon Character Category:Currently Played